Massaging the back



March 17, 1964 MARCHESE 3,124,822

END GRIP BATH APPLIANCE FOR WASHING AND MASSAGING THE BACK Filed Sept. 12, 1963 INVENTOR. LORENZO MARCHESE ATTORN E Y United States Patent 3,124,822 END GRIP BATH APPLIANCE FOR WASEHNG AND MASSAGING THE BACK Lorenzo Marchese, 709 N. Townsend St., Syracuse, N.Y. Filed Sept. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 308,379 1 Claim. (Cl. -118) This invention relates to: bath appliances, and more particularly to a strap supported sponge for back scrubhing.

The invention is directed to a reversible sponge device having faces of differing yielding resilient cellular material aifixed to a strap for applying one or the other of the faces to the back for the scrubbing or massage thereof by the bather. More particularly the appliance may have a soft face of soft cellular rubber-like material on one side, and a relatively thick cellulosic sponge on the other, the structure being assembled with a stiffener and a manipulating strap therebetween, whereby the bather may employ the face of the appliance most suitable for the purpose, and effect desired. The invention further has to do with the economical construction of the device whereby the same may be mass produced for the market at low cost.

The above and other novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is expressly understood that the drawings are employed for purposes of illustration only and are not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being bad for this purpose to the appended claim.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

FIGURE :1 is a perspective view of the back scrubbing device;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view of the elements in side elevation, ready to be brought together for assembly;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse section through the scrubbing device; and

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal section through the scrubbing device.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a strap terminating at either end with end rings 22 and 24 of relatively rigid plastic or the like, each end ring being secured to the strap end by loops 26 and 28- of the strap material, the loops being completed by transverse heat seals indicated at 30. For this purpose the strap will be made of thin sheet or wide ribbon flexible plastic adapted to fuse on heat, whereby the loops may be readily closed about the rings 22 and 24-.

The scrubber proper consists of a layer 40 of sponge rubber or the like which may have a corrugated or waffle surface pattern 42 as indicated, whereby the rubbing application of the surface upon the users back will assist, when accompanied with or without soap, in a cleansing operation and a massaging effect capable of cleansing and stimulating the pores of the bather. Such layer may be about five-sinteenths of an inch thick, and have rounded corners 44 as indicated in FIGURE 1. The scrubber also comprises a thicker layer of cellulosic sponge 50 the thickness approaching about three-fourths of an inch. Such sponge has. the same peripheral shape as the sponge rubber layer 40, and may be approximately two and three-fourths inches Wide and four and one-half inches long. The cellulosic sponge is adapted to absorb soap and water, and upon application to the back, the user may, by compressing the cellulosic sponge slightly as desired through tension applied to the strap 20, cause the same to yield up sudsy water to facilitate washing the back.

Interposed between the cellulosic sponge and the sponge 3,124,822 Patented Mar. 17, 1964 rubber, is a thin relatively stiff plastic plate 60, having preferably rounded corners and a dimension of about two and one-quarter inches by three and a half inches. The plate may be of thin stiff Plexiglas preferably one-sixteenth of an inch thick or less, or of any other suitable relatively rigid plastic.

In assembling the parts to form the scrubbing device, the cellulosic sponge 50 is provided with adhesive over the surface facing the sponge rubber, the strap 20 laid thereover lengthwise centrally thereof, after which the plate 60, coated with adhesive on both sides thereof is applied over the strap 26 centrally of the cellulosic sponge 5i following which the sponge rubber 40, with suitable adhesive applied to its back surface is applied over the plate; Thereafter the parts are compressed together until the adhesive sets, the compression being sufficient to bond the perimetral facing surfaces of the cellulosic sponge, and sponge rubber to one another, and to the opposite faces of the strap where the same emerges from beneath the plate and extends outwardly between the ends of the faces of the cellulosic sponge and sponge rubber.

By the assembly process described the scrubbing device becomes sealed, around the contacting edges of the members '40 and 50 totally enclosing the stiffening plate, and thereby gives the appearance of a scrubbing device having but two layers of material, one adapted for applying soapy solution, while the other is adapted primarily for massage. It will be understood that the adhesive employed are water and detergent resistant, and that the entire device becomes a unitary structure.

If desired, the rings may be eliminated provided the loops formed in the ends of the strap are made sufficiently large to accommodate one or more fingers of the user of the device.

While a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. As various changes in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as will be ap parent to those skilled in the art, reference will be had to the appended claim for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:-

An end grip bath appliance for washing and massaging the back comprising a relatively long hand strap of uniform width and thickness composed of thin flexible sheet plastic, hand grip loops on the opposite ends thereof including portions of the strap ends folded back upon the strap and sewed thereto, a substantially rectangular thin block of sponge rubber, and a substantially rectangular block of cellulosic sponge of substantially the same rectangular shape as the sponge rubber block and at least double the thickness of said sponge rubber block disposed on opposite sides of a central portion of said strap, and a thin rigid rectangular plastic plate interposed between the strap and sponge rubber, said plate being of a width greater than the width of said strap, and less than the width of said blocks, and of a length less than the length of said blocks, the contacting and facing surfaces of said blocks, plate, and the central portion of the strap disposed between the blocks being adhesively bonded to one another and with the facing side portions of said blocks beyond the width of said plate and strap being bonded together to conceal said plate, and the outside face of said sponge rubber block having a corrugated surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,154,831 Booharin Apr. 18, 1939 2,731,014 Hollingsworth Jan. 17, 1956 3,099,032 Webb July 30, 1963 

